The second (mono) disc attached to the VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO Deluxe Edition was eventually reissued as a standalone "Rarities Edition" disc. I bought that.

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Yep. But it's worth mentioning that the VU&N box included a very nice remaster of the mono mix from a considerably upgraded tape source. The "Rarities" disc is a good bargain, but I cannot recommend it when it's so plainly inferior. And yet I also find it hard to say that people should necessarily play $80 plus for the full box if they aren't die hard fans of the album.

The best solution would be for Universal to release a stand-alone remastered mono disc of the album for an affordable price. I don't know how much of a market there is for it at this point, but on the artistic merits this version more than warrants it.

I hope they included "Beginning To See The Light" session from May 68 with John Cale

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Oh yes. I desperately want to hear that track, and including it here would seem like a complete no-brainer. Ideally, this set will scoop up all remaining Cale material of the era. To play devil's advocate, I suppose a case COULD be made for saving it for a 3rd album set (for, um, compare/contrast purposes with the Yule version?) but I vastly prefer a more chronological approach to these sort of archival sets.

I will be stunned if the box doesn't, more or less, follow this basic format. The only thing that could change this calculus is if there is a large cache of COMPLETELY UNKNOWN available material. But I'm not counting on it. I would guess that our best opportunity for a "surprise" would be a handful of previously undocumented Gymnasium tracks. But is it possible Cale finally unlocked that infamous closet door? Could be very cool if he has.

I have been collaborating a bit with Universal on the project and now I am allowed to share some of the information with you:

Stereo and Mono mixes of the Album plus the singles, and the material already iussed in VU & Another View will go in Cd 1 and 2.
No alternate take of "Sister Ray" i am afraid , but there are fantastic surprises for the fans: the alternate take of "I Heard Her Call My Name" and the long time rumored "Beginning to See the Light" recorded May 29, 1968 with Cale at fuzzy bass!! Those alone are exciting enough to warrant the set.

The Gift will have some special "treatment" on the issue with Vocal and Instrumental versions.

Cd #3 will be "Live at The Gimnasium April 30, 1967" with a previously unreleased (not in the bootleg) "The Gift", similar tempo than the studio version but live!!!

As always thanks to Levenson and Mercuri for the great job done to keep the VU catalog alive and make these gems finally available

If this is accurate, I think it upends at least one bit of conventionally accepted Velvet Underground lore: my prior understanding was that the Velvets had never performed "The Gift" live prior to the reunion. This probably just reflects the fact that the Velvets live career is very poorly documented.

1.I hope for some original mixes from VU & Another View.
2. A Bit sceptical about alternate "I Heard Her Call My Name" - does it's not the same mono mix which is released on Sundazed box?
3. "The Gift" is not a "Booker T" track?

Also, now that I think about it, it's a little odd that there would be a live "The Gift" at this time as "Booker T" was also played during their Gymnasium shows, and it is often (but not always convincingly, at least to me) described as the instrumental basis of that song. In fairness, I don't know offhand if "Booker T" is from the same night as this show. And it could very well be that the song was very quickly worked up, if they liked the instrumental from a previous night at the Gymnasium and quickly added the previously written Lou Reed short story into the arrangement.

I have been collaborating a bit with Universal on the project and now I am allowed to share some of the information with you:

Stereo and Mono mixes of the Album plus the singles, and the material already iussed in VU & Another View will go in Cd 1 and 2.
No alternate take of "Sister Ray" i am afraid , but there are fantastic surprises for the fans: the alternate take of "I Heard Her Call My Name" and the long time rumored "Beginning to See the Light" recorded May 29, 1968 with Cale at fuzzy bass!! Those alone are exciting enough to warrant the set.

The Gift will have some special "treatment" on the issue with Vocal and Instrumental versions.

Cd #3 will be "Live at The Gimnasium April 30, 1967" with a previously unreleased (not in the bootleg) "The Gift", similar tempo than the studio version but live!!!

As always thanks to Levenson and Mercuri for the great job done to keep the VU catalog alive and make these gems finally available

It's generally accepted that this is comes from the same Gymnasium show.

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Yeah, but I think that the Velvets were so poorly documented that the conventional wisdom is often based on very incomplete information. It's hard to imagine that "Booker T" and "The Gift" were played at the same concert (though not inconceivable-- they clearly embraced many artistic conceits that could have included playing variations on a theme), unless the VU didn't see the same relationship between the two songs that was later accepted as fact?

I found the live show from the VU & Nico boxset to be very poor quality. Is the Live at The Gimnasium April 30, 1967 show's sq?

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No, almost soundboard quality. But Lou's vocal is very upfront, almost painful at times. This is the best VU live recording in existence and much much better than Columbus show from 1966. Difference is day and night. No boring 30 minute jams, just first rate ROCK.

Okay, this is obviously a series, which means the third album is next, and there is so much live stuff from that period that hasn't been officially released that this could go up to 5 cd's easy. I'm still hoping that "Sweet Sister Ray's Murder Mystery" will one day show up in all it's 40 minute glory.

I found the live show from the VU & Nico boxset to be very poor quality. Is the Live at The Gimnasium April 30, 1967 show's sq?

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Much better. Now, I think the Valleydale show is pretty essential (as the only complete version of a VU show with Nico, and the extended improvs are an important and otherwise pretty much undocumented part of their early careers, even if they are not to everyone's liking) but as an audience recording of the era, it's very sonically limited. I don't know the origins of the Gymnasium tape, but it's heads and shoulders above Valleydale in terms of sonics.

It's amazing and wonderful that we have a document of the band of this era in this quality. Can't wait to hear "The Gift."

No, almost soundboard quality. But Lou's vocal is very upfront, almost painful at times. This is the best VU live recording in existence and much much better than Columbus show from 1966. Difference is day and night. No boring 30 minute jams, just first rate ROCK.

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I agree with everything you said here EXCEPT that for some reason, I happen to enjoy those "30 minute jams" when it's the VU. With almost any other band I'd hit the off button during this sort of extended improvisation, but as it stands I love "Melody Laughter" and "The Nothing Song."

Much better. Now, I think the Valleydale show is pretty essential (as the only complete version of a VU show with Nico, and the extended improvs are an important and otherwise pretty much undocumented part of their early careers, even if they are not to everyone's liking) but as an audience recording of the era, it's very sonically limited. I don't know the origins of the Gymnasium tape, but it's heads and shoulders above Valleydale in terms of sonics.

It's amazing and wonderful that we have a document of the band of this era in this quality. Can't wait to hear "The Gift."

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Despite it's sonic limitations, the Valleydale show is essential listening for fans, especially the 2 long improvs on "The Nothing Song" and "Melody Laughter". I've listened to those quite a few times since I got the set and I think they're pretty great.
Looking forward to this set, if only for the Gymnasium show in best ever quality.

Okay, this is obviously a series, which means the third album is next, and there is so much live stuff from that period that hasn't been officially released that this could go up to 5 cd's easy. I'm still hoping that "Sweet Sister Ray's Murder Mystery" will one day show up in all it's 40 minute glory.

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I'd like to think so (and "Sweet Sister's Ray's Murder Mystery" would certainly be welcome), but I suspect with the CD retail industry so wobbly, each installment is dependent on the sales performance of the previous entry. Between the Matrix Tapes and the almost disc-long performance that Ralphb advocates, let's hope fans embrace the WL/WH set enough to convince Universal to green light the 3rd album set.

Oh they just have to do a set for the third album. It's my favorite, and from what I've heard, it's a lot of folks' favorite.

If the above info is correct regarding WL/WH, I might settle with the 2CD version as the live stuff is not as interesting to me. The main downside to that would be that I snagged a new copy of the VU&N 6CD book from Amazon Warehouse Deals for only $33 and now I'm going to want my copies of the other albums to match.

Oh they just have to do a set for the third album. It's my favorite, and from what I've heard, it's a lot of folks' favorite.

If the above info is correct regarding WL/WH, I might settle with the 2CD version as the live stuff is not as interesting to me. The main downside to that would be that I snagged a new copy of the VU&N 6CD book from Amazon Warehouse Deals for only $33 and now I'm going to want my copies of the other albums to match.

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Even assuming the current information is correct, we don't actually know what the 2CD version will include. My instinct is that it will actually be the stereo album (plus whatever bonuses are on disc 1 of the box) and the Gymnasium disc.

Even assuming the current information is correct, we don't actually know what the 2CD version will include. My instinct is that it will actually be the stereo album (plus whatever bonuses are on disc 1 of the box) and the Gymnasium disc.

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If that's the case, I might pass on the box and go for this, because I really only want a good take of the Gymnasium show. I love this album, but I have it in stereo and the mono vinyl, and, for me, "Sister Ray" only got better when they performed it live. I would happily fork over for a box set built around performances of that song as it's virtually unrecognizable in some cases because it just kept mutating.

If that's the case, I might pass on the box and go for this, because I really only want a good take of the Gymnasium show. I love this album, but I have it in stereo and the mono vinyl, and, for me, "Sister Ray" only got better when they performed it live. I would happily fork over for a box set built around performances of that song as it's virtually unrecognizable in some cases because it just kept mutating.

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It is true that, somewhat counter-intuitively, this live performance of "Sister Ray" seems to be the most restrained and unembellished of the various versions out there. Usually it's on the stage that the Velvets stretch out, but this may be a rare case where the "core" version of the song is only spotlighted in a live performance (but since the April Gymnasium shows pre-date the September sessions for the album by several months, this isn't entirely surprising).

Oh they just have to do a set for the third album. It's my favorite, and from what I've heard, it's a lot of folks' favorite.

If the above info is correct regarding WL/WH, I might settle with the 2CD version as the live stuff is not as interesting to me. The main downside to that would be that I snagged a new copy of the VU&N 6CD book from Amazon Warehouse Deals for only $33 and now I'm going to want my copies of the other albums to match.

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You're right that it seems to be many fans' favorite (though I'll admit not mine-- but I don't say that as a negative, more as a statement of how incredibly much I love the first two albums; The 3rd album is fantastic in it's own right, but I'm more excited for the possibilities it offers as a vehicle for unbelievable bonus material).

You're right that it seems to be many fan's favorite (though I'll admit not mine-- but I don't say that as a negative, more as a statement of how incredibly much I love the first two albums; The 3rd album is fantastic in it's own right, but I'm more excited for the possibilities it offers as a vehicle for unbelievable bonus material).

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I do love the first two as well, but the third is still my favorite.

Interestingly, Loaded is by far my least favorite despite the fact that it was supposed to be so commercially viable. I find it to actually be the least accessible of them all with forgettable melodies. I just don't find myself returning to it often, though I do love "Who Loves the Sun" and "Sweet Jane." My belief is that the rights to Loaded rest with another company however and we likely won't see a super deluxe of it.